Teleportation spells in SR, Moving this discussion from elsewhere Options

[PlatonicPimp]

So, over in the magic formula thread, a small discussion erupted over the viability of teleporation is SR.

In older editions, it was directly stated that teleportation and time travel, or in any other way effecting the space-time continuum, was a big no no.

Personally, I'm totally for this. For one thing, It brings up too many questions on how these things interact with quantum Mechanics/relativity too be answered well.
Does the teleporting character arrive instantly, or at the speed of light? How deos this interact with time? Does an instantly porting character violate relativity? Do they travel back in time?
Secondly, the existence of a reliable, usable teleportation spell with significant range would completely change the travel dynamics of a society, escpecially if the mage could take others with them. The ability to "Pop over" to the home office in seattle from the vladivostok offices, at instantaneous speeds, would so profoundly effect the way we conceive of distance that what little resemblance to our world SR has left would be gone.

That said, there is a way around this, and that is a spirit with the astral gateway power. Time and space don't matter once you jaunt off to the metaplanes, and if you do so bodily, you can pull yourself back out with the same gate power anywhere or When you choose. The only problem is, you can't be sure it's real, can you?

[JBlades]

Everything says that teleportation is impossible, except that Harlequin teleports in the original adventure, at the end. I imagine he's a bit of an exception to the rule, however, as the most powerful mage in the world...

[stevebugge]

Was Teleportation allowed in Earthdawn?

[PlatonicPimp]

I do beleive so. So the restriction on teleportation may be a paradign thing.

I thought the harlequin thing was open to interpretation, as to whether he teleported or went bodily into the astral to pop out bodily where he wanted to be. A nitpicky point, I know, but it makes quite the difference, because, you see, he still traveld the distance involved, just not in the physical world.

I'd call that ability a high level metamagic that lets you take your body with you on the astral.

[Azralon]

Harley could have gone invisible and then skedaddled at high speed. Alternately, there could be some memory-fiddling that made the observers believe he teleported.

Unfortunately he remains as a bad example for the feasibility of anything, as his writeup specifically says "assume he can do anything he feels like."

Remind me to ask him about the whole rock-heavier-than-he-can-lift thing.

[SL James]

Didn't he use something like (or just use) Netherwalking?

[FrankTrollman]

Teleportation is impossible. However, physical objects can be essentially moved to the astral plane (or even a metaplane), move over, and then come back to the physical.

So a materialized spirit can shift to the metaplanes, and then shift from the metaplanes to a point in the physical world that the spirit has an available pathway to (usually their own conjurer or someone speaking their True Name three times). There is no "teleporting" involved, even though the spirit crosses perhaps thousands of kilometers in less than 3 seconds without passing through "intervening space".

You can't use sorcery to create new wormholes willy nilly. However, there are some wormholes already present in Shadowrun which characters could potentially take advantage of.

-Frank

[stevebugge]

[Liper]

pretty sure there was a clause in one of the magic books about creating spells that set limitations, one of which was time and space travel.

[Drac]

I could've sworn it was Ehran who teleported once...

[Ancient History]

No, Ehran stepped into the Astral. Different.

[emo samurai]

This is cyberpunk. As a rule, there can't be any technological (or, in this case, magical) advances that actually make society progress. There always has to be hackers, there always has to be massive corruption, and there always has to be massive inefficiency despite the incredible speed of things. Everything is a rat race. If they invent pc's, they become utilized primarily as tools of international/intercorporate warfare. If AI's become common, then AI's everywhere become utilized primarily as tools of international/intercorporate warfare. If insanely powerful biochips... you get the idea. Instant transportation is a breath of fresh air a world like this could never have.

[SpasticTeapot]

Teleportation is impossible.
"Create Gravitic Singularity" is not impossible.
However, you'd best have an initiate grade approaching the density of a black hole if you want to pull that one off.

Alternately, being a 34th-grade (or more) Initiate like Harlequin can allow you to step into the astral. You can then travel absurd distances in very small amounts of time. Not true teleportation, but darn close.

[hyzmarca]

Two words: Other Place

[fistandantilus4....]

there was the Gateway spell in ED, and the Lightbearer ability to shift your body into the astral. Gateway linked to pre-arranged points, where it made a doorway between them into the astral. So basically, the system supports (at least in the past) taking short cuts through the astral, but not actual teleporting.

[Clyde]

Let the player get astral gateway as some kind of metamagic power, if you must.

[Azralon]